In its short history, the Tea Party has offered its own response to the president’s State of the Union address with a colorful cast of characters: Rep. Michele Bachman’s (R-Minn.) deer-in-the-headlights production in 2011 became rich fodder for late night comedians; she was followed in 2012 by the inimitable pizza CEO Herman Cain and last year by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has since moved in a more mainstream direction as he gears up for a possible presidential run. In contrast, this year’s Tea Party representative, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah)—a mild-mannered Mormon Eagle Scout whose father served in the Reagan administration—seems a sensible choice: The insurgent right appears to be developing some self-awareness that its message demands a better messenger.

That has become clear over the past several months. After more and more establishment Republicans criticized the Tea Party’s eagle-eyed anti-Obamacare agenda for holding the rest of the GOP hostage, the Republican insurgents then saw their strategy backfire in the government shutdown last fall, with the Tea Party’s unfavorability rating rising to 49 percent in October. The face of that insurgency and the march to a shutdown was the firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who, ever since riding into the upper body in the 2012 election, has bucked the leadership in both houses, memorably speaking for more than 21 hours on the Senate floor about the push to defund the Affordable Care Act.

Story Continued Below

Cruz’s bomb-throwing has met a palpable backlash in the press and among the Republican Party establishment—and has handicapped his chances as a viable national candidate. “It’s always the wacko birds on the right and the left that get the media megaphone,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) famously said last year, referring to Cruz, among others. “I think it’s important for Republican leaders around the country to speak out against him,” said Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.). I’d venture that Cruz was probably considered for the response speech Tuesday night, though he appears to have been relegated to finding free media on the Sunday shows.

Enter Mike Lee, the low-key Utahan whose rhetorical style and demeanor are notably more mannered—a nicer version of Ted Cruz, perhaps. On all of the most pressing issues in Congress—budgetary policy, taxation, foreign relations (read: Benghazi) and the overall role of government—Lee has stood shoulder to shoulder with Cruz and the Tea Party, denouncing Obamacare, resisting a debt-ceiling increase, calling for a restrained foreign policy and forcing the government shutdown. Rhetorically, however, Lee presents a study in contrast. He has not jumped for sound-bite attention, and his name recognition is low (not to mention that he comes from a state wholly without the obvious electoral-vote pull of Cruz’s Texas).